#he did a great job tho!! his Jack was definitely a different character from his James Herriot

[fortes-fortuna-iogurtum]

I finally watched The Most Reluctant Convert this afternoon!! I can definitely tell that it's an adaptation of a one-man stage play, as it's very slow-moving and mostly narration and exposition. but I still thought it was an enjoyable introduction to the real life of C. S. Lewis, and might be a good way for people who only know him through his fiction and who may not be as inclined to read all of Surprised By Joy to be introduced to the story of the man behind Narnia.

mainly though I just felt for Nicholas Ralph during all of his scenes, as he was clearly not taking so easily to having an English accent and his Scottishness was constantly threatening to break through

[willowistic22]

Famous!newsies

Ok so here are my famous!newsies headcanons from an a modern au i thought of if newsies were celebrities/famous yknow bcs I couldn’t get this idea out of my head and idk what to do with it other than making a headcanon list nabsnzbsvsnsbz anyways hope yall validate me after not posting any original content for like…. awhile now hehe

btw it got longer than expected. And I mean r e a l l y long. So if yall wanna read this better sit down and buckle up! 

Jack

He’s an artist on youtube

Like a modern day bob ross ig??

If yall know zhc on youtube just imagine that but not so rich (I don’t watch zhc btw but i do know that he does custom art on iphones and stuff and that is definitely not jack kelly)

Anyways Jack simply goes by Jack Kelly.

So jack does art challenges. Like does the weirdest requests from his fans left in his comment section and stuff

Or maybe challenging himself to make art from a specific theme or a specific media

Sometimes he vlogs too but his art videos are what his fans like the most

His merch is amazing because he designed the pattern/drawing/whatever yknow. It’s printed/sewed/whatever on the clothing and it’s good quality. It’s pretty lowkey for a youtuber’s merch bcs jack doesn’t like those merch that just smacks his logo on a hoodie

Davey

He’s a fantasy, YA, romance writer (he mixes it wisely ok?)

And goes by David Jacobs

Listen he’s a hopeless romantic and i’m pretty sure yall agree too

He wanted to stick to YA romance. The classic high school lovers yknow

But he wanted to challenge himself since he’s been writing about high school lovers since he was in high school

Thus the fantasy genre came in mind

So yeah he likes creating love in his own universe

Whether it’d be different worlds, universe, species, time periods, whatever.

He wanted to direct the movies based on his books, but he’s actually lowkey terrible at leading on his own. But he did stick to being the script writer and co-director (look idk how it works in the film industry i’m just making shit up)

Crutchie

He’s a solo jazz singer

Crutchie gives off Michael Buble and Jason Mraz vibes tho

And maybe a bit of frank sinatra? Yknow ‘cause he sings jazz

Also he riffs thank you very much :)

He goes by Crutchie Morris to everyone

He usually plays the acoustic guitar or piano on stage

Ok but he’s like really good with the piano

Makes the best jokes on stage too. Some are just sarcastic comments.

Crutchie asking through the microphone : “Oh, straight?”

A fan he’s talking to from the crowd : “Uhh… no, gay”

Crutchie : “no not you, the vodka”

Everyone at the concert : *laughs*

Crutchie, jokingly : “Oh, you’re drinking vodka! Straight? No gay”

(yes that was indeed inspired by that one video of Harry Styles and a fan in one of his concerts yall can’t stop me)

Kathrine

She’s a crime mystery writer

Think like the modern day Agatha Christie

Okok but she goes by Kathrine Plumber on her books :D

She chooses that genre bcs she’s a huge fan of Agatha Christie

Her favorite book from Agatha is Murder on the Orient Express

Oh and her books are sometime very gruesome alkjsfhakjsfb

Nobody check her browsing history, she’ll look like a murderer

Ok but I feel like she also has a youtube channel about books and stuff and sometimes like to vlog

She also has a writing tips series on her channel where she shares tips on some of the frequently asked questions about writing or her fans leave a specific question in the comment section and thought she could expand more to it in a full length video

Also she likes to vlog while she’s in a book convention

Her books are also turned into movies and she has done a great job directing it

Race

Yall would be lying to me if you don’t think this kid would end up being a twitch streamer and youtuber (like vlogging yknow. I feel like his gaming stuff would strictly be on twitch)

And ik it’s widely agreed by everyone in the fandom that he’s a dancer of some sort so yeah he’s also simultaneously a dancer

I don’t think I need to explain any further bcs it’s just so in character

He goes by Racetrack Higgins

Ok so he likes to vlog on his youtube channel

Sometimes does stupid challenges

Maybe he’d drag Albert to do a challenge which he always says no

“I’ll just be your cameraman dude, dw”

Race : *angery*

Since Al and Smalls are the skateboard peeps™ race is the rollerblade dude™ bcs I say so

He has three cats named Racecat Higgins, Spot Clawlon, and Romeow (i’ve mentioned it before and I will mention it again hehe) and his fans loves them endlessly

Albert

You don’t think this kid would also end up being a twitch streamer and youtuber like his bestie up there?? Lmao you thought wrong (again, gaming is strictly on his twitch)

He just goes by Albert DaSilva on the internet

And yes he’s also a dancer because I say so

On his Youtube channel he also vlogs

Half of his vlogs starts with him riding his skateboard

“Hey, guys! Welcome back to another vlog-” *falls off his skateboard for not paying attention to a curb*

It happens way more often than he’d like to admit let’s be real. His fans make a compilation of it and memes on reddit

Always wear a snapback

Snapbacks are an important element to him so his merch store is really boosting his snapbacks

And just for the wormsie discord server he has one with the word ranga on it after it being born from a stupid inside joke he, race, and both of their fanbases combined share (@ my wormsie fam thank me later)

Oh yeah, his youtube besties are Race and Smalls just so we’re clear here :) (I’ll get to Smalls in a bit)

So I always headcanon Albert having two big dobermans. So his fans always want to see a doggy update because Zara and Zoey are everything to them.

Doggo vlogs are fun. It’s usually Albert taking the two good girls to Central Park for playtime or teaching them new tricks

Spot

He’s a solo rock singer

Is an amazing singer like wow none of the newsies expected him to have that sort of pipes to reach high notes

And he does it amazingly with no sweat

Also his instrument is the electric guitar to go with his amazing singing ajsfhasjfhajhf

Anyways he goes by Spot Conlon still

And his songs are very lyrical. Like very.

A lot of metaphors. No one knows what most of his songs means.

So basically Taylor Swift songs if it switched genres to rock. And not even like songs from speak now or red. But like if evermore and folklore songs were to turn into rock songs with a little bit of reputation vibes sprinkled on top. And his concerts has the reputation era vibes but make it spot conlon (hey non swiftie fans reading this i’m so sorry i’m pretty sure yall don’t understand wtf i’m talking abt)

That is also the only way i know to describe his vibe i’m sorry but i don’t really listen to a lot of rock alkjhfasjk

Anyways it’s a known fact that he wears tank tops daily that it becomes his signature look. And also an inside joke among his fanbase

Now just picture the merch booth from one of his shows and there’s like endless tank top designs for his fans to pick and choose

He’s also crowned to be the King of Brooklyn bcs of obvious reasons

But the joke is he’s a pretty tough hardcore guy that’s a cat person

Sarah

She’s a badass female solo singer

Mostly does pop but the badass type of pop

Yes, she does go by Sarah Jacobs

Fans were really surprised Davey and Sarah are related

Because one is a hopeless romantic while the other is a total badass

Anyways she gives off Little mix, Ariana Grande, Taylor Swift, and Selena Gomez vibes

That is literally the only way I can describe it

She’s very lyrical, with a lot of metaphors

When she dances on stage, she d a n c e s

All while holding a mic to sing. And she hits all those high notes like it’s no ones business (a literal queen i tell you)

She and Spot are besties and has been known to have done a few collabs together

Their fans were hesitant about their collabs since their genre is pretty different from the other but they make it work and it slAPS

And among all her boppy songs with full choreography and backup singers, she always have a few songs she sings while only being accompanied by piano or guitar (Either electric or acoustic) which she plays on her own

Finch

He’s an indie pop artist with his trusted acoustic guitar by his side

Just think of music by Wallows and Lewis Capaldi were to be blended in together and Conan Gray for the cherry on top

But it has a little bit of Ed sheeran, Lorde, and Lauv vibes to it too

His concerts are simple but his songs are mostly very boppy so his fans still have fun either way

And it’s usually in small venues but there are times where he had a concert in a huge stadium

He goes by FINCH (yeah all caps btw)

Finches are a very on brand thing for him obviously

Has been known to collab with Crutchie and they actually make a very good team

Somehow was able to combined both genres to produce a few boppy songs

Ok ok but Finch and Crutchie have made a collaborative album (and maybe they went on tour????)

Specs 

He’s a history fiction writer

Yes this is inspired by the fact that he’s 100% a history nerd (no one change my mind i love this headcanon aight)

And he explores a lot of different histories from different parts of the world

He actually helps a lot of students understand history even further for school through his novels

Anyways he goes by Specs because I say so

No one knows why that’s his pseudonym and Specs isn’t interested in explaining either. No one other than the newsies need to know it was born from a stupid nickname the newsies gave him :)

His research mostly comes from history books because of his genre which wouldn’t be a problem since he has loads and will voluntarily buy more if needed

Also yeah he makes a great director for the movies taken from his books

Mush

He’s a chef on youtube

Goes by Mush Meyers

So think if Gordon Ramsey and his youtube channel but make it mush

Yeah that’s it really

Ok but Mush is a jolly and friendly person

Other than just food vlogging he does cooking challenges and cooking tips too

Sometimes he does the cooking challenges with a friend (mostly henry but i’ll get to him later on in the list)

But he also vlogs his life

Which isn’t really often but he likes to sometimes

He’s that big of a foodie he has a food blog too

And also a seafood restaurant so that’s cool :D

Henry

Like Mush, he’s a chef on youtube

Goes by Henry on the internet and in general

Ajkfhajfjska I’m thinking about how ppl would address him as Chef Henry kajhfkjlashfjklasfjklsf

He mostly does the same thing like Mush actually

Food vlogging and cooking challenges (they do it together so) sometimes cooking tips

But Henry vlogs his life a lot

And instead of a food instagram he has a food blog

He has a sandwich restaurant

Yeah it is inspired by his pastrami on rye with a sour pickle line from KONY get mad about it why don’t ya (well if i’m not mistaken henry was the one that said it but idk i have horrible memory) 

Blink

He’s a youtuber

Ok so I have a specific headcanon that Blink majored in psychology but didn’t end up being a psychologist

So instead he becomes a psychologist on youtube

Who often vlogs jhgasjlfhs

The guy looks like he could cut you but his sense of humor once you get him talking is just *chef’s kiss* amazing

Which is why he also has a podcast because he’s also secretly great at talking

He just thinks mental health is very important, okay?

Romeo

He’s an actor

Mostly on Broadway but has worked with Hollywood before

He’s usually a supporting character but has been known to understudy for main characters

Ok ik these bullet points are getting shorter and shorter but these are mostly bcs some of these stuff are pretty self explanatory since it’s very in character

Like are you telling me a kid named Romeo isn’t gonna be in some way very dramatic and end up turning that personality trait into his career?? Plus he’s very good at that?

Yeah you’re lying to me

Also he’s a pretty frequent vlogger on youtube

Look he’s a fun guy, what did you expect?

Just goes by Romeo on youtube

Elmer

He’s an actor

Has done his fair share in Broadway and Hollywood but started in Broadway

He can dance but thinks he’s pretty average in it yknow

Which his fans has no idea what he’s talking about because on stage he can do flips and turns like it’s no ones business yknow

But he can sing really good and takes pride in it

Elmer would play characters that is really far off from his own personality that fans couldn’t believe that Elmer played that character

He has done his fair share in main characters and supporting characters on Broadway

In Hollywood he usually does indie and rom-com movies

Buttons

He’s a fashion youtuber and basically an influencer 

Let’s be real this boy is a fashion icon

He’s not really a model but more like a fashion influencer and also kind of a fashion designer

His clothing line is very *chefs kiss* amazing

He designed it all and sometimes likes to design for his friends as well

He also does fashion tips on his youtube channel

His instagram game is god tier level (along with Tommy Boy and Sniper I’ll get to them in a bit) 

But yeah he also vlogs

And goes by Buttons Davenport

Jojo

He’s an actor

Mostly on Broadway but has done a few movies in Hollywood

He radiates main character energy and he does become the main character most of the time (on hollywood at least)

On Broadway he mostly enjoys being apart of the ensemble because this boy loves dancing

But he does play a few supporting characters

He has released one or two albums too because his singing is top tier

But isn’t interested in doing a lot of live concerts with his albums

Since no one has the time to say Josephino Jorgelino De La Guerra he turned it into Jojo De La Guerra (so much for ‘a special nickname only for friends and family’)

Mike and Ike

They’re a pop boy band and bcs of my lack of creativity it’s called Mike and Ike

At the start of their career :

“My name goes first because I’m older than you!” - Mike

“You’re only older than me by 13 minutes, holy shit!” - Ike

But Ike slowly accepts the fact that it’ll be like this yknow

Anyways they’re pretty great singers

They have one direction and new hope club vibes

Tho unlike one direction they can dance (i love the boys alright but i really think it’s funny that they can’t dancelkhjjlh)

They like to switch from the guitar (electric and/or acoustic) to the piano

The amount of times their name is confused by the candy is too many 

But they like it like that lol

Anyways i’ve mentioned a headcanon where Mike has tattoos (not like from head to toe but it’s fairly noticeable to everyone) and Ike has piercings

So the only way their fans tell them apart is by that

But there are times where Mike has his tattoos covered or Ike took his piercings off in public alone. A fan mistakens them for the other twin but they still respond to the other name because they don’t feel like there’s a need to correct them since they’re mostly known by Mike and Ike anyways. When the fan posts it on instagram and tags the twin they thought it was the twin that was tagged would comment “wrong twin but nice pic you two”

Happens wayyyyy too many times. Their fans are officially scared to approach one of the two in public alone without their differentiating indicators on which is which

And yes it is widely known that they argue a lot when it comes to writing songs

Nothing out of the ordinary sibling squabble yknow but it’s a lot

But they do end up finding a solution to the topic of their argument and make a good team at the end of the day

Hotshot

He’s an actor

On Broadway, he’s one of those actor’s that is mostly good in just the acting and singing

He can’t dance to save his life sjdfghaf

So Jeremy Jordan yknow asj;oghajshf

No not really. He can dance a little bit

So he’s mostly the main character

But he’s widely known for his works in Hollywood

He does a lot of drama. Think stuff like Elite and Designated Survivor. Yeah those kinds of heavy drama (well idk i think those two are pretty heavy)

He wants to release his own music because he’s a pretty good singer but he can’t write songs to save his life either jgnjafjasf

And all the demo songs he was suggested by producers isn’t his cup of tea

So he’s no singer ladies and gents ://

The name Hotshot is used to name his social media platforms. He always adds a description in his bio’s that Hotshot is a nickname his friends and family use so his fans and the media refer to him with his name

I headcanon Hotshot’s real name is Tyler or some sort. No don’t ask me what’s his last name is because idk either lol

Sniper

She’s a model, beauty and fashion youtuber (I’m pretty sure those are two different things tho idk i don’t watch youtube religiously anymore), and just an influencer in general

Instagram game on p o i n t

I know most beauty youtubers go by their names but uhh… i don’t think i’ve ever thought of a first name for Sniper but I really think she really would just go by Sniper Wah on the internet (Idk she seems like an Ashley in my head but feel free to recommend headcanon names to me)

Anyways she’s very fashionable

Tommy Boy (i’ll get to him just wait aight?) and Buttons are her fashion besties

The three of them pretty much appear in each other’s Youtube video not Tommy’s tho bcs he doesn’t have one lol

Sniper’s brand are huge sun hats

I have no idea how or why but that girl has sun hats vibes I can’t explain any further I’m sorry

Doesn’t have a clothing line but does have a make up brand of her own. She calls it Sniper. Yeah that’s it akjfhjf

Smalls

She’s a twitch streamer and youtuber like race and albert

They’re a youtube trio everyone loves it

And yes she does go by Smalls

Oh and she also dances like her two stupid besties thanks for asking

Bubblegum is her brand (idk how to explain she just has the vibe)

She is skateboard chick

I’m imagining a video collab of her and Al on a skatepark doing stupid challenges

It’s her most viewed video

Tommy Boy

Ok ok he’s a model, influencer, and dancer

So think a male version of Gigi Hadid that dances

No he doesn’t have a youtube channel but frequently has made an appearance on Buttons’ and Sniper’s videos

Yes his instagram feed is also very amazing

He goes by Tommy Boy

People genuinely thinking ‘Boy’ is actually his last name and kinda think it’s strange but doesn’t complain

Tommy literally didn’t think people would think it was his last name. But they did anyways

Les

Let’s just get straight to the point : he’s a famous tiktoker 

And yes, ppl are surprised at the fact that him, Davey, and Sarah are related to each other 

To the people that made it through this entire list. Congratulations and thank you for your validation. Have a wonderful evening and stay hydrated 

i will write at least one oneshot out of this au i promise!!

[woulddieforperrytheplatypus]

Dan Povenmire, co-creator of Phineas and Ferb and the voice of Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz, just did a zoom call for fans, and this is a link to it on Google Drive and a link to it on YouTube.

Here’s a brief overlay brought to you by my incessant live blogging, and because I was speed typing on my phone, I can guarantee not everything made the cut. If you’re interested in hearing Dan talk about growing up an artist and becoming an animator and trying to pitch Phineas and Ferb and working on the show and movies, I would definitely suggest checking out the full 75 minute video. The highlights from the call are below the cut.

They added Doof and Perry because they liked chase scenes. They realized fairly quickly that more than not, the pair led to good comedy, and found it much more interesting to see how their relationship developed. He also says that they are "the most important person to each other” and “they’re really good friends.”

They wrote the Perry theme song in an hour between meetings with Disney

They decided during the pilot that they weren't going to try to get comedy from the characters saying mean things to each other. Even Doofenshmirtz wasn't motivated by evil, he just wanted to get the attention he didn't get at home.

Doof’s backstories were not Dan and Swampy's idea. They were from Jon Barry and Chris Hendrick, who [itched the lawn gnome backstory. It was long and compliated and Dan and Swampy couldn’t stop laughing. They also provided the "it all started on the day of my birth” one the next day.

making the 2D movie while making the movie was the busiest Dan says he has ever been, and that's not even counting the PnF Take Two and Doof's web show and all the interviews. Basically, 2010ish was a very busy time in the Dwampyverse.

They decided to give each pair of writers their own section of an outline to work on, and each pair got to make up the dialogue and jokes based on it. it works well for the show, but writers kept going on their own tangents and the movie ended up like 6 hours long. Dan and Kyle Menke had to redraw 80% of the show because they had to cut gags out and rewrite it so it was still funny. Note: in the new movie, they did the opposite — they wrote a script and told the board artists that they could put brief gags in but nothing too long

He thinks the show became one of the most beloved shows bc it was innocent and the adult humor wasn't dirty so the whole family could watch it together. He also said the songs at the closest thing you get to immortality in a show. Those combined made the show as big of a hit as it was, and hopefully those things will get older people to watch the movie.

His advice if you want to follow in his footsteps are to draw (and suggest you check out Cartoon Animation by Preston Blaire and How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way by Stan Lee) and to know that these jobs are out there

One of his favorite gags in PnF are the silent moments where something big happens and no one reacts (like something big fell in an early episode and crashed next to Phineas and co and at first they were all shocked but Dan changed it to them just kinda looking at it for a moment with no emotion)

Q: Did you ever want to quit what you were going?

A: "I don't really... do... anything else..."

He finished his new pilot today (July 2nd, 2020) and the movie is due tomorrow.

He would love to do more PnF and there's been talks of another PnF movie

He would love to do more Milo Murphy's Law, but it never got huge ratings and Disney's not too big on it but if people start watching it on Disney+ they might get to keep doing it. They did that with Family Guy, and it could happen to MML too.

The movie feels like old Phineas and Ferb and there are a lot of great songs! 

And now, the Q&A (in which he draws random characters are he talks)

How was the process of kicking the voices?

It was sometime easy but sometimes very difficult. For Phineas, they listened to maybe a thousand people. they actually recorded someone but they put it to animation and it didn't really work. He knew as soon as he heard Vincent that he loved him. They literally recasted the lead (Vincent) the day before they had to deliver the pilot.

He knew immediately that he liked Alison Stoner. She was the second Isabella he heard, and he listened to maybe 50 others afterwards, but he knew he wanted Alison Stoner

They decided on a different Candace and they sent it to the head of the channel and the guy asked if he heard Ashley Tisdale. He told Dan to have her come in and give her direction and Dan was hesitant bc he had one that he liked but he was lowkey forced to bring her in. It was his only audition that day, and after his big block of text Dan gave her like 20 notes and she wrote the notes on the big block of text and she did it again and it was perfect and obviously Candace (but he feels bad for the actress that was almost Candace bc she'll never know how close she was)

What was the most impactful episode you worked on?

Either the last (hard to watch w/o crying) or three moments that made himcey while doing them: the end of Summer Belongs To You when Phineas gives up trying to get off the island and decides to watch the sunset with Isabella which was what she always wanted and she exploded and talked him back up onto being the person he is even tho it's a sacrifice on her behalf. He later says he started crying while pitching to his wife the AYA scene of Phinabella getting together.

Do you regret any episodes?

There are some he likes more and some he likes less but he doesn't regret any of them. He was a little disappointed in an early episode without a sing but he watched it alter and decided it was actually pretty decent. None of them make him cringe or wonder why they did that.

How has social media impacted PnF?

He recently got on TikTok and found out that's where all the PnF fans are. He was thrilled to see the response everything was getting and it made him feel good about everything he accomplished. The fact that this generation knows what an aglet is is his biggest accomplishment in pop culture.

Favorite part of working on the show/movie

He likes editing, but writing the songs is the most fun bc it feels the least like work

Who is Ferb's mom?

Never established or really thought about Ferb's mom or Phineas's dad AND IT'S NOT DOOFENSHMIRTZ THEY MADE IT IMPOSSIBLE FOR THAT TO BE TRUE STOP ASKING and Phineas and Candace are full brother and sister. The bio parents aren't interesting to them bc the family already has a mom and dad and the other ones are just out of the picture and not important.

Will there be a new character in the movie?

Super Super Big Doctor (and Disney keeps telling him what he can and can't talk about)

Are there any secrets or theories that he can tell them?

The freaking creepy pasta about schitzophrenic Candace IS NOT TRUE Phineas and Ferb do exist and are alive. There's also a theory that Candace is not based on the diary of a teen girl in Russia who killed herself, and that's not true either. He genuinely thinks they are really freaking stupid theories and they make no sense at all.

Who is your favorite guest star?

Writing a song with Slash from Guns n Roses was really cool. He also liked working with Ben Stiller, Christian Slater the delivery guy (he called and said he'd do any part in MML so they wrote him a role), Jack McBrayer (Irving/Fix It Felix), Wayne Brady (co-wrote In The Empire)

What is the motivation of Candace to bust the boys?

He's not trying to hurt them. She doesn't dislike them. She gets irritated but she's really just looking for fairness. If she built a rollercoaster in the backyard, she'd get in trouble, so they should get in trouble, too.

How did you think about hot to end the show?

Disney was starting to cool off on PnF. The merch wave had plateaued. Dan and Swampy had the next two years in the show already made, but Disney wouldn't pick up another season until they finished airing that season. They'd have to restaff for a new season and they didn't like that idea, so they turned one of their hour long specials into the finale. He wanted to be able to say goodbye and thank the fans.

[idontevenwatchbl]

Rambling about The Stranded

Alright, after sleeping in way too long and getting myself a cup of coffee, maybe I’ll finally manage to wirte something coherent about The Stranded?

Spoilers for the whole series below, of course.

-I liked it? Probably wouldn’t have watched it in one sitting if I didn’t, but still. It was good.

-So I heavily recommend it. Although if you’re reading this you probably have watched it already so who am I even talking to lmao.

-Kinda hoped it would have been scarier though. There were some creepy moments but none that were truly scary. Which was a slight disappointment, but they probably weren’t even going for straight up horror.

-That said though, I got a slight feeling that the series tried to do way too many things at once and lost it’s focus at times. They kinda kept switching the tone.

-Wich offered nice diversity and kept things fresh, BUT

-It kinda made the different aspects of the show feel a bit separate from each other. There was the horror-y stuff with supernatural aspects, then the relationship dramas, and then there was also the whole thing of the kids building a mini society on the island (or maybe more like how they kinda failed at that and everything just crumbled down).

-and also resulted in weird continuity issues like everyone just forgetting Arisa in the jungle for TWO WEEKS. I mean most of them probably didn’t care, but what about Ying? To be fair, Arisa did kinda ditch her, but still. She seemed to just forget she even existed and wow.

-They all got over Joey’s death a bit too quickly too, imo. Even though you’d think it’s a big shock for all of them. I mean sure, they just survived a tsunami and don’t even know if their FAMILIES are alive, but Joey was still the first one among them to die, so it would have been nice if it had a bit more impact.

-Some of the more lighthearted aspects also felt out of place at times. Didn’t bother me too much, but it’ll probably be jarring to some people.

-Also it was slightly amusing how even in the desperate situation they were in, ppl still had time for relationship drama. But they are teenagers and all the stress is probably messing up their hormones real bad, so I guess it’s kinda understandable.

-Anyway, my main concern would be that they they don’t manage to tie together these different sides of the shows in a meaningful way in the upcoming season(s).

-When Arisa first appeared on screen, like 2 minutes into the show, my first thought was literally; wow, I bet she likes girls? AND I MEAN-

-Speaking of which, the whole Arisa/Ying thing got me so confused. It was clear as day Arisa was attracted to her, but then she got all like ‘lol nope’. To be fair, it was most likely just the case of her not being ready to admit her feelings. But still, it frustrated me.

-ALSO then there was Arisa having a few moments with Nat towards the end of the series and Ying being patching things up with Ice.

-This is probably just me being way too into my ‘Arisa must be a lesbian’ -headcanon, but I have a mini theory that she was actually in love with Mint.

-Istg if Arisa and Ying DON’T get together in the hypothetical s2, I’m gonna be upset.

-Moving on from that, I also accidentally predicted May getting pregnant lmao.

-Can’t really remember it clearly, but there was some scene scene in ep1 when I thought ‘hm, is she pregnant?’ (I think they focused the camera on her stomach or something). Sure she wasn’t at the moment, but still. Lol.

-I also kept wondering in any of them even used condoms. Did the island even have condoms? I mean probably yes, but I’d be surprised if Ice and Ying hadn’t already used them all.

-I guess it really was just a matter of time before someone got pregnant.

-My favorite characters ended up being Arisa, Ying and Nahm. Especially loved Arisa, which is absolutely no surprise at all.

-ALSO, I just have to say this, Ying is really beautiful?? I’d be crushing on her too.

-Really hated Anan, but he was such an interesting character! Really complex, and I want to know more about him (and why he hates Kraam so much).

-Anan losing his shit over May cheating on him cracked me up bc I associate March too heavily with Phu and if you’ve watched Hormones, YOU KNOW WHAT HE DID. You reap what you sow, honey.

-I have surprisingly little to say about Krit and Jack, even though I liked them?

-They mainly just shattered my heart. Like I legit wanted to cry when Jack died, how’s that even prossible? We didn’t even know him for THAT long.

-Also, I probably shouldn’t have watched LBC so close to this. At first I just kept seeing Perth and Mark as Ae and Kengkla and LET ME TELL YOU, it kinda cracked me up even among all the angst. It did go away pretty soon tho.

-I know I’ve wished a slow, painful death for Kengkla (no offense at all, i’m just... NOT fond of the character), BUT THIS IS UNRELATED. Jack did nothing wrong.

-Both Perth and Mark did such a great job and I’M PROUD OF THEM.

-Btw, the casting for Jack and Jan was perfect. The girl who played Jan really resembled Mark. They aren’t actually related, are they?

-Btw, wouldn’t it have been better to amputate Jack’s leg to stop the infection from spreading? Sure that would have had it’s own risks, but since his situation was already pretty desperate, they should have just taken the chance.

-In the same vein, couldn’t they have used the generator to power up their phones? Kraam could have listened to the voice message his dad left, and WE WOULD HAVE ANSWERS.

-Okay, most likely not their top priority, but still.

-Gun confessing his love to sleeping Nat was so soft and I loved it.

-They most likely won’t end up together, but I want it so bad.

-I’m still not sure what to think about ‘’the teacher’’, or whoever she ends up being. Is she evil or not? Getting mixed signals here. Or maybe she’s more like a neutral being, not truly evil or good.

-Nahm said she’s not and she seems to be the most trustworthy of them all, but then again she DID have that weird dream. Is she under her influence?

-Took me a while to realize, but almost all of the people they showed at the end of the last episode, also acted in Hormones? No wonder they looked familiar.

-I kinda predicted we wouldn’t get any real answers in this season, but I’m still a bit frustrated. I WANNA KNOW WHAT’S GOING ON.

I most likely forgot to include something, and my ramblings most likely make 0 sense, but if I want to add something I’ll just make a follow-up post.

I really hope the series does well enough for us to get a second season, because this series definitely NEEDS ONE.

[helisol]

ye s, well

it basically came to me like a prophet receiving a vision from an angry god. you know. like brian david gilberts video ideas but with more slow burn.

no really i wrote all this down in my phone’s note app because some nearly coherent things popped up in my head every time i was on the train or bus these last few days.

(after-actually-writing-this disclaimer/note: this is 2000 words of slightly edited rambling about Bagginshield in the Afterlife. i had to put it in a read more.)

so the gist of it

the botfa goes just as in the movie with minor details altered. like bilbo kissing thorin just before he dies which inadvertently causes a ripple in time and space that makes the valar curious of them both. you know. minor stuff.

so bilbo goes back to the shire, the war of the ring goes down, and the hobbit/elf gang sails to valinor at the end. classic stuff, not much alternating of universes here.

but here’s where things turn into the “my city now” meme because DUDE DO I HAVE A LOT OF THOUGHTS ABOUT VALINOR AND HOW THE AFTERLIFE WORKS

like, I’m sorry mister jolkien rolkien tolkien, but just putting people into a hall to await being judged like a hospital waiting room? snooze, that’s boring!

so first of all, and you can fight me on this, Yavanna Made The Hobbits And You Can’t Change My Mind.

it just makes sense for her to have been very saddened by the destruction of literally all her work on arda through melkor’s poison, so she made living, growing things that could protect themselves from harm. as opposed to the ents, by the way, which were made by Eru to protect all the other living, growing things. it was a nice gesture of Eru to make those, but not quite what Yavanna wanted or had in mind, i imagine.

as with the dwarves, Eru wasn’t all happy about the existence of another race he didn’t make but you know, whatever, ‘I’ll just let this married couple have their own kids aside from mine, it’s okay’.

so he hands both the dwarves and the hobbits independent thought and free will, but under the condition (and here is where the afterlife stuff comes into play) that Aule and Yavanna be responsible for their mortal creations after their death. meaning that both races have seperate afterlives from the halls of mandos, MEANING THAT ITS COMPLETELY FINE FOR AULE AND YAVANNA TO BE LIKE “oh look honey, these two are so very in love and remind me of us, shan’t we do something about that?”

so. they do something about that. more precisely, they rearrange their afterlife-realms so they’re next to each other and someone with enough willpower could cross through the barrier. because listen, they’re valar, they can do whatever they want just for kicks.

okay so after that tangent lets get back to the meat of the matter: gay dwarves. I know not everyone has read Sansukh, a 500k word mammoth of a fic, and I don’t really intend to copy any of det’s canon, but their version of The Halls of Mahal really inspired me. basically the dwarven afterlife is one big hunk of a mountain/underground city where they’re free to live their days until dagor dagorath doing what they do best in the company of their families and friends; like smithing, crafting, building and other JustDwarrowThings.

meanwhile the hobbit afterlife is Basically The Shire and instead of being given the materials to build things, all the hobbits who go there get to grow plants and do their gardening. they don’t have to- just like none of the dwarves have to craft stuff- since there’s always enough food for everyone, but they are just allowed to do what they do best if they so desire.

now when Bilbo arrived in the undying lands he was still Old As Hell and im sorry to put it this way, he definitely kicked the can after like, a week of living there. not really so undying, them lands, huh. anyway Bilbo bites the dust and LOOK AT THAT he’s suddenly young again, and another LOOK AT THAT he’s standing in a very comfy, but Not Quite Bag End hobbit hole that has a note hung up on the front door. you wouldn’t think gods could have handwriting but hey, again, they’re gods they can do whatever. the note just tells him that yavannah made this place special and just for Bilbo but that there’s another home waiting for him. very cryptic there, lady. he doesn’t leave at first because hey, his family is here. there’s a lot of reunions and celebrating and food because its the fucking hobbit afterlife, what else would you expect

it takes him a few days of Regular Hobbit Life in his new home to realise ‘holy shit, this is so boring’ so what does a Fool of a Took do when things get boring and there’s a note urging him to do something?

HE’S GOING ON AN ADVENTURE

so Bilbo runs through the whole not-shire, meeting all sorts of people he outlived on the way (looking at you, Lobelia), as well as some elves. because elves can definitely just waltz through all the afterlives. they can walk on top of snow, you think they wouldn’t walk around wherever they please in valinor? rip to mankind, but they’re different.

he gets to the furthest reaches of it eventually, and lo and behold, what awaits him but the view of a tall mountain, an invisible barrier and a very flustered Thorin who is at his wits end as to how Bilbo even got here.

now for thorin’s part of the story we’ll have to start after the botfa again. he basically woke up in the darkness like an episode of naked and afraid, and started talking to Aule. his maker, who loves him to bits by the way since he made thorin, just tells him he’s free to go wherever his heart takes him. again with the cryptic messages from the gods.

so thorin, still very self-loathing and bitter because of his actions right before his death, sees this as Mahal’s way of saying ‘please don’t step foot in my halls u disgusting litle creacher’, when really he just meant ‘please do some well deserved self reflecting and then come inside to be with your family, they all miss you terribly’.

after his chat with the maker thorin just spawns in right at the front gate of the mountain and he has a choice to make. go inside or stay outside. and we all know Thorin’s proclivity for drama so he basically spends LITERAL YEARS just living in self imposed solitary confinement.

oh also tiny hc here, thorin was said to have taken “any work offered to him in the towns of men”, and they showed him in a smithy, but personally I believe they meant it when they said “any kind of work”. so basically thorin is a jack of all trades, master of some. he definitely has master-level skills in certain areas though, enough to build a vaguely hobbit-hole shaped house. why is it hobbit hole shaped?

oh right, the part where Thorin is absolutely enamoured with Bilbo.

"Go back to your books and your armchair, plant your trees, watch them grow. If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world.”- HELLO? GAY POLICE? I’D LIKE TO REPORT A CASE OF ‘DWARF KING REALISING THAT THE HOBBIT WAY OF LIVING IS A REALLY GREAT ONE IN CONCEPT / WISHING HE COULD HAVE HAD THAT KIND OF LIFE WITH BILBO’

anyway it’s a long 80 years until Thorin does get to meet Bilbo again, and in the meantime we have one of my favorite additions to any Hobbit fanfic ever: Frerin

For the uninitiated, Frerin is Thorin’s brother. They also have a sister, Dís, but Tolkien never specified when she died and she was a bit younger than Thorin and Frerin so I reckon she’d still be alive as an old dwarf lady somewhere?

Anyway, Frerin. Oh boy. Sansukh, again, does an excellent job at turning Frerin into a character with a level of authenticity that gets real fucking close to Genuine Tolkien™, so most of my own characterisation of Frerin is based on that in Sansukh. With the important omission of the dwarves not being able to see the present/their still alive loved ones in middle earth through a magic mirror pool.

so Frerin takes it upon himself to leave the mountain in search of his brother because he really does want him back. but also because Mahal has had it with Thorin’s antics and suggests Frerin fetch him so he can finally reunite with his family. Mahal doesn’t talk to the dwarves a lot because he’s like an awkward and distant dad, but he does actually speak to them.

so Thorin is supposed to go see his family, which he does, but not immediately. it takes like, a solid year of just brotherly (and sister-sonly) companionship for him to open up about all his anxieties and regrets and THEN he goes into the mountain to cry in his mother’s lap. as you do.

however Thorin still feels like he doesn’t 100% belong with the other dwarves in there, so he frequently spends long stretches of time outside, building away at his house, thinking about Bilbo. the company goes out to visit him sometimes.

more details on the house tho, cuz it’s Important; it’s built halfway into a hill near the mountain, like a proper hobbit hole would be, but the lower levels are built into stone. look, he’s had 80 years to work on constructing this. it’s near perfect in every way for both hobbit and dwarf standards and could definitely fit the entire company and more inside.

now about the barrier. elves can pass through without a second thought because they’re shiny little bastards who just get to do all the cool stuff, but the other races can’t just hop between realms like that; they really have to muster up the willpower. which usually means they can’t do it because a drawback for both dwarves and hobbits is that they favor isolation from other races even in death, and as such don’t want to mingle with each other.

unless you’re Bilbo Badass Baggins though, who simply runs through the barrier to yell at Thorin for leaving him sad and alone for 80 years. he is that bitch.

there’s gonna be some legolas and gimli shenanigans if i can fit them in (cuz i dont know when exactly they sailed west together), possibly a mention of tauriel because bruh peter jackson did us dirty by not giving her any closure besides ‘lol i guess she’s banished from mirkwood??’ and Mairon. because. I also have some thoughts about him.

also Fili and Kili as pseudo matchmakers because every fic needs that

and did I mention there’s gonna be hozier lyrics for chapter titles

i said this was the gist of it but i somehow ended up at ~1900 words. well, more power to me.

[tisthenightofthewitch]

IN CONVERSATION WITH GHOST’S TOBIAS FORGE

JACK PARKER   JUNE 13, 2019

Tobias Forge is a charming man. Seated in the bar of Amsterdam’s well hidden Hotel van de Vijsel, he’s just finishing a cup of coffee as rain batters the windows outside. It doesn’t faze him, though, focussing on his phone as I sit down at the small table. We’re here today to discuss Ghost‘s fourth studio album, Prequelle, which just celebrated its first birthday. Over the course of the last twelve months, former man of mystery Forge’s band Ghost have undergone one hell of an impressive campaign trail, taking on bigger stages than ever before with one of their most ambitious productions to date. Everything about Ghost is magistral, and so as they prepare to continue touring with Metallica, Forge tells Jack Parker all about his vision, the future and his personal ambitions.

Hey Tobias. You’re on the road with Metallica at the moment, how’s that going? Very, very cool. I mean, it’s cool from so many aspects because we’re playing in front of fifty, sixty thousand people every night, which is unbelievable. You could talk about being the rock dream, but it’s also very educational. When you look at where we are right now, basically being in the process of playing between the smaller clubs and bigger stadiums, it’s definitely very educational to go up against these huge crowds. It takes time, it takes training, and it takes practice to learn how to do this. Just the fact that you’re focussing your energy in so many different directions, with all these people in front of you. And if it’s big enough, there’ll also be a camera in front of you somewhere which you have to look into and communicate with. All these people in the back need to look at what you’re doing.

Of course. There’s a lot of things like that. But to be honest, you couldn’t ask for a more hospitable host. Hosts. Metallica have been so nice and supportive, you know? We’re treated fantastically; it’s a great summer with a lot of days off too!

Prequelle is now a year old, congratulations on that little milestone. How do you feel about that collection of music, looking back on it a year later?

I don’t think that much of the record. To use a very business-oriented term, I think more of the entire album cycle and where that record has gotten us as a band, and what we’re doing tour-wise. From that aspect it’s been phenomenal, really good. Because it’s wrapping now, I can definitely see the end of the cycle coming up. I can look back at it now and think to myself, “We’ve achieved exactly what we set out to achieve with the record”. The record was very honest and not a repetition of anything I’d done before, and that’s good. I like it! I don’t listen to the album, but that’s the same thing with all of my records. As soon as I’m done writing a record and we’ve started playing it live I already stop listening to it. I honestly can’t, because it makes me slightly nauseous.

So at what point do you start looking towards that next cycle in a more concrete manner? I usually start when I’m wrapping up the recording process for the previous album. There’s already things I leave a production with which I know I want to do differently or improve for the next time. I’m not trying to sound like a killjoy, but there are always things in a production which you eventually realise were not necessary. Like, “that was not good”, or, “we could have done that better”. It’s not necessarily simple stuff like doing a chorus differently, but more a case of, “Ah! I wish we’d spent two more days playing bass” or “I wish we would have tuned that tom or snare better“. I hear it all the time.

The little things, basically. Yeah! But you see, I’m a control freak and a perfectionist, and I really, really want to feel like I’ve done everything in my power to create as good a product as possible. Again, product.

A business term. Exactly, a dumb word. As good an album as possible, as good of a craft as I can. That’s why I walk from a production telling myself that I want to do certain things differently next time round. As far as writing goes, though, the cycle starts a lot more modest and at a lower frequency. I end up with a few things I’d left out of the current record, and then I add a lot of new things. And that’s everything, from small snippets of music that I might have recorded to things I have in my head, or notes. I have a lot of notes with titles and lyrics, conceptual things. Just ideas, really. Knowing now that we’re gonna wrap after this year, I’m gonna go into the studio in January 2020. By then, I will be deep in the process and ready to start working on album five. Touring life is very teenage in how we’re so free and that there’s a lot of late nights – you just can’t be sick! And you have to play, haha. When I make a record, I’m usually quite routine. I like routine, so it’s Monday through Friday from nine to five. You show up for work, drink a coffee and get going.

Business! Yeah, I want it to be like a normal job. When I start doing that, it usually falls into place quite quickly.

I see. Prequelle ends on Life Eternal, which is very much a grandiose and bombastic piece of music. How does this song feed into what you want to explore musically and conceptually during the next cycle? The next record is definitely conceptual.

They all are. Yeah, they are, but not in a King Diamond kind of way where there’s a storyline that starts with Character A and Character B getting rid of Character C. It’s not a rock opera in the classic sense, it’s more a general vibe. Not too dissimilar to what Metallica or Iron Maiden used to do on their albums; they do still, sometimes. Powerslave, for example, is an Egyptian sort of record, but there’s a lot of songs on it which have nothing to do with Egypt. I am conceptual more along those lines, than by trying to write my own Tommy. In this particular case I dare to say that the next album won’t start where Life Eternal leaves off.  The record that I have in mind is very different. Being a Ghost album, it’ll obviously have something to do with Prequelle, but I’m not trying to write a Prequelle 2. It’ll be a completely different record.

You see, that’s what I like about Ghost. There’s a thread of similarity feeding through each record which gives off that whole “this is Ghost” vibe, and yet no two records are the same.  As you said earlier, you’re a control freak and a perfectionist. On the record you play all of the guitar and bass lines yourself, but when you look towards that live show how do you go about finding musicians who match your vision? The band I have now are very good examples of exactly what I’m looking for. They execute what is already there, and they do it very well and do it successfully. They have also adopted the songs a little bit, and changed their physiques to play the songs as intuitively as possible. They’ve gotten into the roles so well that they deliver the lines believably. It sounds authentic, and that’s great. What’s needed is not only mindset and ability, but also time; it takes time. Practice makes perfect, a very worn out term! It takes a very long time for a band to warm to one another, so after little over a year of touring together you can now tell that they’ve gelled. That’s why I think we now have those moments where we listen to a clip and go, “Wow! It sounds really good now”. Everyone’s attentive to the details; they know the songs very well. They did their homework immensely well before we started touring, not just in learning the lines but also in feeling them. That’s two different things! In order to play Ghost music, it also helps if you have a bit of a similar musical background to me, and that you haven’t only played black metal before. It helps if you have been in a pop or rock band, you know? You don’t have to be schooled. Let’s say that we jammed Summer of 69 and you can play it so that it sounds like a rock song, that’s great. You need to be able to play rock and roll, and do it wholeheartedly. You shouldn’t be the kind of person who regards an AC/DC song as not technical enough for you to play good.

You just have to feel it. Yep! You see, I experienced this problem when I had my own metal band, Repugnant. I know how old and fucking backwards I sound by saying this, but the last time I was embracive of something contemporary was in the early 90s. That’s when I still liked records that came out! Before and after that I’d always been embracive of things which came before, like in the 60s, 70s and 80s. By the mid-90s, like 94/95, I started thinking that most death and black metal bands had completely shat themselves. I started excavating a lot of the death metal stuff that I liked in the mid-80s. If you’d have met me in 1995 then all of my favourite things would’ve been from a good ten years earlier. Celtic Frost, Destruction, Bathory, stuff like that! My problem in the late 90s, when I had bands playing that sort of music, was that a lot of people my age grew up listening to the later bands. I had to force them to listen to and not think of Possessed as a band who didn’t sound good enough, you know? Just because they liked “new”, well-sounding, later-90s shit. For most of my life I’ve been in bands trying to educate other people on what I want to do, just because it wasn’t in trend with what was going on at the time. I don’t even know how old you are?

I’m 22. 22, oh shit. It doesn’t matter! You see, the difference between people your age and people my age is that people nowadays have far broader and fresher music tastes. They’re way more educated in music, and they have different points of view which are accessible. Back in 1995, people my age and older chose their own records. You had to choose your own path in a different way!

There was obviously far less instant access to music in 1995. You’d have to trawl through record stores, and now we’ve got streaming. Yeah, and that has been a constant thing for me. Not a struggle, though! Nowadays it’s evened out because I play with people who are ten years younger than me, and I am ten years older. When I was 18 or 22 there were a lot of people who would just turn to you and say, “Oh, I’ve never heard of that band”. People whose first album was a Korn record. Not that I have anything against Korn, but for me that’s just alien. In 1995 I was already knee deep in trying to educate myself with the old school ways of death metal and Satan, so I fucking hated anything that was considered modern, or “nu-metal“. I couldn’t stand it! Anyone wearing shorts spoke of a life and style that was not me. Do you know what I’m saying?

Yeah, I understand. For me, it was very hard to find people I could play with. That’s because of all the musical shit that was going on back then, which is natural of course.

You’ve always been a very ambitious person, and it shows. But where do you want to take that ambition next? If we’re gonna be a bit more broad stroked in terms of life ambitions, then I think that Ghost will obviously always be my claim to fame. I don’t have any dreams of making it artistically in another way, like with Dave [Grohl] playing drums in one of the world’s biggest bands and then becoming the singer of an even fucking bigger band. I don’t have that ambition, but in the future I’d love to play in some different bands and do different things. It doesn’t have to be huge, though. One very basic ambition that I have in order to achieve the things I want to explore is to reach a point of no economical pressure. For me, that would be the luxury. That’s my vision of making it. If I can form a band with people that I like and I’m just gonna be the guitar player or drummer, then to be able to do things like go on tour would be great if I didn’t have to worry about the monetary side of things. That for me is a dream come true, especially now that I’ve spent a decade doing a band which is very money and career-driven. If I ever started a band now, then I’d know what I want to do better. Therefore I feel very excited about the possibility of playing in another band at some point in my life. Hmm, what else? I’m a very cinematically interested person, so I’m really into the idea of scriptwriting. I would definitely start my own production company either alone or with someone else, but only if I had the money, the means and the time. I wouldn’t say I’d produce films, because then people would think of big blockbuster stuff. That’s not what I’m talking about; I’m talking about being able to make short films or series with the sorts of ideas I have. Given the proper time and opportunity to cultivate that, and without having the economical pressure, that would also be a big ambition of mine.

AllThingsLoud.com

[codenamesazanka]

Forgive this, but I gotta rant!

I don’t really like Deku! I feel his character has unutilized potential - or, rather, the character he is supposed to be isn’t the character he is. Of course, this is my opinion.

But yeah! I get it - he wants to be a Hero, he wants to ‘save people with a smile on his face’, but he’s quirkless. Still, supposedly he had this great determination and heroic qualities even before meeting All Might - his hero analyses, him applying to UA... which really means nothing. And that’s all he did.

Sure, he’s a kid, he’s 14, give him a break, but there was so much he could’ve done!!! Learn first aid(!), learn self defense, volunteer, community service, all that. He’s said to be smart, sure, but even better way to show this is to have him realized or had planned for his future Hero career by gaining supplement skills before he ever applied to UA. I really really wish we could’ve seen the UA kids learn first aid.

Biggest problem I have - though, granted, this is brought up in the story - is that everyone still thinks being a Hero is punching bad guys, when it should mean helping people. And yeah, it’s not just Deku, but he’s supposed to be so different All Might thought he should be his successor. The scene where he saves Bakugou, honestly he was also standing in the crowd hoping for a Hero to come - its only when he realizes it’s his friend, that he says his body moved in its own. Which, true, is brave; but him helping a unlucky rando without a second thought might have been better. Have him Good Samaritan the heck out of strangers.

It’s just, the story makes him out to be so kind and gentle and self-sacrificing, and yeah, I can see the times where those shine through; but I also am reminded of that time he heard Todoroki’s family life and decided the appropriate response is to focus on their upcoming match, and when he helps out Bakugou and Eri, it’s because it was relevant to him (recognizing Overhaul in the latter case). Sure, it’s just how stories and plot conveniences are - but there should be other times too for randos; just like two panels of it at the beginning of the chapter.

(Which is why I like the protag from Vigilante much better! In his spare him he just decides to pick up litter and help ppl in small ways, to destress! Yes! He missed his high school entrance exam saving a stranger from drowning! He’s got his flaws, he’s not pure heroic either, but he’s much more aware of his to help people than Deku)

The base for his character was Jack Midoriya from the oneshot My Hero; but Jack fitted well for his story. Iirc, He didn’t want to be the greatest hero ever, he didn’t even really wanted to save everyone really - he just wanted to be a ‘hero’ and help out. At least that’s more honest. He couldn’t be a hero tho, but he showed initiative in trying to get as close as he could to it - working for a support item company to get his hands in support items to be a hero with, going vigilante. But transplant that character to BnHA then try to say Deku is selfless and kind and determined from the get go is a bit of a mistake.

He’s also really not that smart. You know who’s really smart? Shigaraki Tomura!!! Hero analyses, sure, but besides brief tactical brains when relevant to plot, most of his fights is just punching. IIRC.

And why did he care so much about Kouta not liking Heroes? Leave the kid alone, let him hate cops if he wants

*

(Another pet peeve - the fandom’s focus on his quirklessness and how he meant he suffered great discrimination. He was obviously bullied for it, and I don’t doubt there is discrimination for quirkless people - but I don’t think it’s as bad as others make it out to be. I’m ready to eat my words, but I just don’t feel the story supports this - but again, it could be fault of the creator for now showing.

Like, just looking at him doesn’t tell you he’s quirkless. There’s no visible marker of it. He’s not gonna be called a ‘mutt’ or ‘dumb lizard man’ at first glance. Appearance-wise, he’s still the ‘norm’ in the universe - no appendages, no physical transformation.

Besides that, there a lot of people with ‘useless quirks’ - quirks that don’t do much at all, factor very little into their everyday life or skills. This is a superpowered society, sure, but it’s one where people are forbidden to use quirks unless licensed and where you still need boring old accountants and taxi drivers and real estate agents and busboys. These jobs don’t require quirks.

Instead, often we see it’s that people with the more ‘unheroic’ quirks that gets the short end of the stick. Mutant discrimination, quirks that can easily harm people if not very careful, quirks that violate human taboos (like blood drinking). I think, yeah, there is a hierarchy of valuing people for their quirks, definitely, but it’s not a clear hierarchy with quirkless people at the bottom. I do wish we see more quirkless people doing stuff!! But honestly I think there’s very little difference between someone quirkless and someone who has ‘bendy fingers’ (David Shield) for a quirk.)

*

Moreover - tho this is more the fault of the author I guess? - is that only according to genre and story conventions do we know Deku and Shigaraki will duke it out, or otherwise confront each other. There’s very very little interaction between the two beyond their actions effecting each other (and not on purpose, it just so happens because they’re on hero and villain sides). Their goals don’t even factor each other in beyond the vague

There’s still ample time for Deku to find out more about Shigaraki but the idea of Deku extending a hand to help Shigaraki is kinda laughable right now. Honestly Bakugou and Shigaraki had better connection and potential; for one, one of Shigaraki’s schemes was all to capture Bakugou and recruit him; for another, Bakugou learning that being a Hero isn’t punching out bad guys and having to save people’s hearts is an actual, interesting storyline that develops both characters, IMO.

All Might reaching out to Shigaraki and redeeming/ trying to redeem him? I’ll accept because I love whacked up Shimura family drama! The connection between the two, AFO’s meddling with them both, all that buried history and mystery to uncover, all those emotions of hatred and guilt, and the emotional consequences of Shigaraki getting incarcerated or executed for his crimes and All Might willing to try his hardest to prevent that / soften that for him, which contradicts his supposedly heroic and impartial justice law-abiding gimmick; and the fate of the story and effects on society resting absurdly on how their relationship turns out, bringing up questions about sacrifice and familial duty and justice - yes, absolutely!!!

Deku saving Shigaraki? :/ nothing to back that for now, still.

Petty, but it’s partly why I don’t wanna see allying-with-the-heroes-type-redemption for Shigaraki if it means Deku helping him lmao. Anyone else who’s relevant, sure! Fucking Gran Torino could work.

[rachelking2819]

Jumanji: The Next Level

Welcome to my first review! I had a lot of fun writing this and watching the movie. Read my thoughts below and let me know what you think. Did I miss anything worth mentioning, let me know!

SPOILER ALERT  SPOILER  ALERT  SPOILER ALERT   SPOILER  ALERT  SPOILER ALERT   SPOILER ALERT   SPOILER ALERT   SPOILER ALERT  

Jumanji: The Next Level is the sequel to 2017’s Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle. The movie stars the familiar faces from the first movie, but we meet some new as well like Awkwafina from Crazy Rich Asians and Danny DeVito known for Matilda and Batman Returns, more about them later.

The movie follows Spencer, Martha, Fridge and Bethany back into Jumanji. They are not the only ones there though as Spencer’s grandfather Eddie and his former friend Milo are also transported into the game. To once again exit the game, they must complete the next level of Jumanji, hence the title.

The movie starts with the four friends from the last movie in four different places getting ready to go home for the holidays.  Everyone seems excited to go and meet up, except for Spencer who seems miserable in New York. Upon arrival his mood doesn’t get any better. The night before he is supposed to meet Bethany, Fridge and Martha, Spencer decides to fix the old gaming console which got destroyed in the previous movie and goes into Jumanji. Breaking his promise to his friends to never go back. Later in the movie Spencer explains that he went back because he wanted to feel like Dr. Braveheart again, have no fears and be confident. I can get that, but that is hardly the way to go about it. The last time he got stuck in the game it almost got him killed and they were with four then. Also do not forget about Alex, he was alone and stuck for decades, unable to move forward in the game until the group of friends came along. So that Spencer thought it to be a great idea to go into the game alone???, is above me.

Anyway, while Spencer is playing Dora the explorer, Fridge, Martha and Bethany meet up and discuss Spencer and Martha’s relationship which has become a situationship as to neither knows what the situation is between them. Previous movie ended with them as a new couple, now though they are together but haven’t spoken for a while. At this point I almost rolled my eyes, thinking this was going to be some melodramatic subplot. This was luckily not the case. While there is a noticeable awkwardness around when they see each other for the first time in Jumanji, it is not something that is shoved in our faces and highlighted again and again. It is quite funny and fitting to their personality with the side-eyeing and the respective signature awkwardness. One could call it adorkable.

The official make-up talk/reunion happens about 20-30 minutes to the end on the side of a steep mountain. Let me paint the picture. In order to escape Jumanji, the final level is to get a jewel from Jurgen the Brutal. He is the main antagonist and stole the jewel from some sacred villagers. The jewel is what keeps Jumanji looking alive and beautiful and keeps the soils fertile for good harvests. Back to Spencer and Martha. To get to Jurgen’s fortress they must climb an icy mountain. On the side of this mountain, nowhere near the top, they find it appropriate to have a talk about what has been and why. Like really? Time is ticking y’all, everybody and their mom is counting on you to climb that mountain and execute your part of the plan, nobody has time for this. Finally, on the mountain and inside the fortress they share their signature “do-not-know-how-to-kiss” kiss, which made me chuckle.

Well, since I have mentioned Spencer and Martha’s first meeting in this movie, I might as well explain that Spencer was not in the body of Dwayne Johnson’s Dr. Braveheart. Instead he was a character we hadn’t met before yet: Ming, a cat-burglar and master lockpicker. Actress Awkwafina did a great job portraying Spencer as this character. With the nervous talking and twitching, it was no mistake neurotic Spencer was stuck as Ming instead of the presumed Dr. Braveheart. At some point it is possible for the adventurers to switch character by jumping in some magical lake. This is where Grandpa Eddie and Spencer switch character. Grandpa Eddie who was earlier Dr. Braveheart, now possesses Ming’s skill set. Again, Awkwafina shows what great actress she is as she takes on the persona of the older man.

Of course, the performances of the other actors can not be ignored. Dwayne Johnson portraying Grandpa Eddie was for sure very funny. Kevin Hart portraying Milo as Mouse Finbar has had to have been one of the highlights tho. Milo is known to be a very slow talker and gets to the point whenever he feels like it. I had genuine belly laughs anytime this character spoke. Also, Johnson and Hart together makes for a great duo every time. Jack Black applause to you once again. I believe that in your previous you were a gangster jock, not taking ish from anyone. Loved your portrayal of Fridge. Black was also iconic as ever as he brought out his inner teenage girl. Karen Gillan did not have much new going on, so she was just as great as she was in the previous movie.

Black also gave me the most relatable scene ever. Seeing as Fridge is a college jock and cannot handle not being able to move as fast as he normally does in the body of professor Shelly, he decides to do burpees to work on his characters stamina. Well three guesses as to how that went… The most dramatic burpees I have ever seen. But if I said “that ain’t me”, I’d be lying.

My only irritation on Grandpa Eddie was that he gets cocky almost every 5 minutes and therefor puts everyone in danger. I mean I get it, who wouldn’t get cocky when in control of such a powerful character as Dr. Braveheart. But when everybody is telling you to stay put and not make a scene or to run because that guy is your weakness, you better do what you have been told. Less fuss that way and everybody lives. But now, thanks to you everyone has lost a live, bringing them to one or two lives each.

Action wise, this movie really knew how to pace it properly. Every time you just feel the urgency of the situation, which I kind of missed last time. The very first action sequence I already knew that this movie was a step up from the first. It had beautiful visuals and the urgency just hit differently.

Talking about visuals. Wow wow wow, such beautiful sights in this movie. The movie takes us through the desert, an oasis, a little bit jungle and snowy wastelands and mountains. The settings were truly a sight to behold.

Also, the movie brings you heart and emotions aplenty. Now when I say this I am probably exaggerating, ‘cause I’m that overemotional. I could be watching a thirty seconds clip of a baby laughing with their parent and I am done for. While it wasn’t exactly waterworks, I did need a moment to compose myself. Especially when Milo told Eddie that he is sick, does not have long to live and that that is the reason he came to visit Eddie after decades of not speaking to one another. I hate these kinds of plots. They get me every single time. Aside from the potential tearjerker, the four original friends share a few heartfelt moments and are like “you are perfect as you are”, not those exact words, but you get it.

After rescuing Jumanji once more, the group of seven (Alex was at some point also part of the rescue op in the game) gets ready to leave Jumanji behind and never return. However, Milo wants to stay following his impending death and wants to see so much more in life. Again, a part that made me choke up a bit.

Now finally home sans Milo, the initial meet-up continues. As the day ends, the group of friends is met with a herd of ostriches like the ones they encountered on Jumanji running through the streets. And this is where the movie ends, giving as the assumption for a next movie where Jumanji comes to the real world.

Overall Jumanji: The Next Level is a fun movie for families. I personally liked it more than the first movie. Lots of laughs and action, that’s always a win for me. Almost made me cry, but that is not a difficult task. Casting keeps being great and great visuals. The first movie I thought was eyerolling funny, filled with dead jokes and overacting. That is why I didn’t have very high hopes for this one, but I went anyway because I was curious for the way it was showed at the cinema (ScreenX: all-round screens in the theater). This movie has certainly exceeded my expectation and I am glad it did. Definitely one I will be recommending to others.

What did you think of Jumanji: The Next Level?

‘Till Next Review!

[geekpellets]

Red Collar Crimes

Cronos Cronos is about an antique dealer who stumbles upon what may be the key to immortality. Unfortunately, he isn’t the only one who knows that such an item is in his possession. I’ve seen this movie labelled as a drama, as a thriller, and as a horror movie. It’s also very funny. It touches on two many genres to perfectly fit into any of the above. I, personally, kind of think of it as an adventurous supernatural caper. There are elements of body horror in the film, but the film itself isn’t meant to be scary. At the end of the day, it’s heart is just too big for that. I do believe that all of these potential genres that the film touches on are done well. It’s a jack of all trades kind of movie, and it works. It’s suspenseful when it’s supposed to be, funny when it’s supposed to be, mysterious when it’s supposed to be, and heartwarming when it’s supposed to be. The acting is great all around. The film is always at its most gripping when Federico Luppi and Claudio Brook are along in a room together acting against one another. The protagonist’s granddaughter, aurora, was deftly portrayed by Tamara Shanath. Ron Perlman is a scene stealer as the disgruntled but charming and charismatic goon, Angel. The film is a character study of its protagonist, so few of the other characters are allowed as much depth, but I enjoyed them all. The blood effects are pretty good in the movie. The make-up effects are good too. The body horror can be quite gruesome at times, but not in that big exaggerated Cronenberg way. One will notice that some of the practical effects are a little obvious. There are films in the late 80′s the naturally blow this film apart with its practical effects, but there are also way worse examples of practical effects both then and now. The movie is filmed and edited well all around. There are early examples here of the kind of eye for imagery and detail that Del Toro is now known for. The film is well paced, ending at a crisp hour and twenty-seven minutes (credits not included). It really felt like the movie did a lot with its short time. I usually don’t mention music when I’m reviewing something, but that’s only because most of the time the music drifts into the background of my mind and becomes forgettable. I really enjoyed the varied musical selections in this film and how well they set the tone in their scenes. I watched the credits just to listen to the music again. This movie tackles so many moods, so many different atmospheres, and it does it all so well, so succinctly, without wasting any time. And it’s clever in its interpretation of vampires, as one might expect from Del Toro. When I read the Strain my first thoughts heralded back to Blade II, but I see The Strain is inspired by Cronos just as much if not more. This one is a must watch must own flick for me. Innocent Blood Innocent Blood is about a vampire who bites a handsy Italian Mob boss but isn’t allowed the opportunity to finish the job, so he turns into a vampire himself. Now, she must team up with with a cop obsessed with putting the boss down. This movie definitely leans more towards supernatural thriller/romance that horror. Let‘s talk about the bad first, shall we. Decent performances for most of the actors. The performances might be better than I’m giving them credit for but they’ve really got nothing to work with here. There isn’t a single character in this movie with any real depth. The action scenes leave a lot to be desired. I probably wouldn’t mind it so much if the music didn’t try to make it seem like things were more exciting than it actually is. The climax is disappointing if one is expecting them to step their action up. There’s a scene where they do the patented Evil Dead first person camera crawl...but why tho? I just don’t think it worked at all. The romance leaves a lot to be desired. There’s no reason this film really had to be an hour and fifty minutes long given how undeveloped everyone is. Let’s talk about the good now. A lot of the character dynamics are entertaining. When the movie wants to be funny it often succeeds. Robert Loggia as freshly bitten mob boss Sallie the Shark IS EVERYTHING. Listen. It is EVERYTHING. Let me be honest. This movie is ham and cheese. It’s a hammy movie. Robert Loggia harnessed the ham, he drew power from it, and single-handedly saved this entire movie with his performance. If this character was grounded in any way, this would be an ENTIRELY different movie. Human, this man owns the screen. Vampire, this man owns the screen. He’s Sallie the Shark cause he’s chewing the scenery, and it’s a beautiful thing. The cinematography in this movie (Evil Dead scene aside) is also very good. They really know how a set the mood, the visuals and music choices feel very intentional and purposeful. The effects in this movie are damn good. There are CG effects today that aren’t as good or don’t have the subtlety as the ones used in this film. The practical effects, while kind of obvious, are a notch above the average for 1993. The make-up work is great. The general blood and gore is excellent. There is nudity as our mysterious vampire protagonist is naked quite often and we see everything. There’s also a strip club where breasts are abound. The cop, played by Anthony LaPaglia, also shows his bare ass...for about a second and a half. The movie has its problems, but for as lengthy as it is, I was never bored. I was entertained from start to finish. You just have to embrace the ham. Let Sallie the Shark brightened up your life in this beautifully depicted city full of naked broads and bloodstained boys. If you can’t do that though, this movie is definitely not for you. Otherwise, it’s a good watch.

[nordic-breeze]

I was going through my files and I came over this document I sent to my friend @distant-rain pretty much the same day I realized I had fallen in love with Arthur, after weeks of being in denial or shrugging off my daydreaming of this cowboy as nbd or thought experiments and boy was I confused. 

I knew next to nothing about RDR1 when I wrote this December last year and I didn’t know much about RDR2 post chapter 2 either except for Arthur’s fate, which I had just learned of, and oml was I upset and confused. Though also scaringly accurate about certain things.

Now over six months later, I love this cowboy even more. And I kept true to my word. If anyone wanna read the rambings of a fangirl who had just found her new obsession be my guest.

I was blown away by how massive this game is. The level of detail is incredible and I greatly appreciate the effort put into creating this world. Yeah, we’ve all heard about the horse testicles shrinking in cold weather but it’s not like it’s just one bizarre detail being essentially a dick joke in an otherwise average game. No, RDR2 is detailed enough that it actually makes sense to add in peculiarities like that. The amount of wildlife alone, I mean, ever since the PS2 era I’ve been used to seeing animals in games but R* created whole-ass ecosystems in RDR2, several of’em, from snowy mountains to marshlands, with animals that act so much like actual animals. Just listening to the birds singing, it’s like being out in an actual forest!

Characterization is another thing that amazed me, in particular the protagonist. I knew nothing about the first RDR when started playing RDR2, nor did I know anything about RDR in general other than it was western-themed and made by the GTA-guys. I expected somewhat of a similar characterization as GTA where every character is a stereotype or a caricature. I genuinely liked GTAV’s story for what it was and even though every character was more or less an asshole, some of them were also weirdly likeable and even earned my sympathy (and hint of affection) occasionally.

But it never really went deeper than that nor was it particularly long-lasting (still way more than I expected tho). I bonded with one of the characters more than I thought I would but not nearly as much as I would had the characters felt more like actual humans and not like the epitome of stereotypes. But it is what R* wanted and it worked. I expected the RDR2 characters to be the same but to my surprise the characters, especially Arthur, are fleshed out, complex, even relatable (depending on your actions I guess). Unlike GTAV, they act and react like actual human beings. Well, human beings that have lived their entire life (more or less) as outlaws. In a country and time period foreign to me. But still they felt human. Ofc I’ve not gotten to know any of the NPC’s as well as Arthur but from various missions and eavesdropping on their conversation I’ve gotten to know them a bit. Hosea is my favorite. He seems like a good man despite being an outlaw and I love how everyone goes to him for advice and how supportive he is. I also wish more people (esp a certain Dutch man) could listen to him more. I also really like Charles. He definitely got morals and could be a good influence on Arthur and the others. I haven’t seen much of Sadie yet, but think I’ll like her too. Lenny seems nice. That one scene when he and Arthur went out drinking together was absolutely brilliant! And lil Jack’s adorable ofc. Only one I don’t like is Micha or Miach or whathisname. I know no one in the van der Linde gang are saints but that guy is a total psychopath. I kinda wish Arthur had gotten his way there when he said they should just leave him in jail as he was nothing but trouble and it annoys me how Dutch is sticking up for him. Yeah, speaking of, not too fond of Dutch or that German guy either atm.

But all in all very impressed by the large open world, the level of details to well, everything and the characterization. Soundtrack is great, graphics are stunning, animations smooth, the horse-riding simulation is just extraordinary and you never know what’s gonna happen as you ride through the map. The amount and variety of random events and encounters are truly impressive. Often comical, like that wildlife photographer who keeps getting almost eaten up by the wildlife he’s trying to document, sometimes eerie like the serial killer side story, or sad like when Arthur met with his former love. Or a combination of said elements like the pig farmers I ran into. With no pigs. But were still veeery well fed. You know, when people are just a liiitle bit too friendly? That eerie feeling you get when you just know something’s wrong but you can’t quite put your finger on it. Until you can. I thought they were husband and wife I really did. You shoulda seen my face when I realized they were in fact brother and sister. Me and Arthur had the exact same face. They were living as husband and wife tho. Well, up until I killed them.

I also love the contrast between the more ‘modern’ world and the simpler life. I could go into town, buy food at the saloon and rent a room or take a bath at the hotel. Or I could ride a few mins out into the wilderness, hunt and gather my own food, cook it over a bonfire and sleep under the stars. Electricity exists, but people are still completely dependent on oil lamps and open flame. Trains and trams exist, cars have been invented, but people still mainly travel on horseback. This contrast between old and new as an era is ending and the modern era is about to begin has been an amazing experience considering the level of detail the game has. The colonization of the new land, which has been largely unknown to me, the contrast between this and modern-day America we see on TV. So many people did not even speak English, I often find abandoned buildings, or burnt-down buildings, some with bodies inside, leaving me wondering what happened to them, I found a ghost town whose inhabitants had been wiped out by a plague. It was tough for many I reckon.

In fact, I find the exploration of this foreign but also somewhat familiar, beautiful but harsh world and its many random events and encounters waaay more interesting than the actual main story itself, which is why it took me forever to reach chapter 3. In fact, the story is probably my least favorite part about RDR2, as backwards as it may sound. I’ve never been into western stories or aesthetics, and I’m certainly NOT into the whole ‘outlaws till the end’ stuff ugh. I fail to sympathize with the whole ‘boo-hoo the world no want outlaws like us no more it’s unfair’. Ugh, go cry me a fucking river. And then go get a job. A real job. Yeah, I get it that adapting to society is tough, life’s tough deal with it and stop preying on others. Wow, robbing two trains in short time and staying in the same fucking area actually has consequences, I’m so shook!

So yeah, story-wise I don’t quite ‘get it’ and Dutch is really starting to get on my nerves, which is probably why I prefer to just ride off alone and experience the world. I guess RDR2 story will rely heavily on being torn between gang loyalty and your own morality and principles but since I have virtually no concept of group loyalty that is all lost on me. My own morals and principles all the way. I’m like, ‘these people suck, take Hosea, Charles, Sadie, Tilly (maybe John Marston and his family) and leave these bitches behind’.

At the beginning, I did kinda liked Dutch. He seemed genuinely sorry for Sadie, took her in and saved her life, even if it meant another mouth to feed in dire times. And he showed Kiran mercy despite hating the O’Driscol’s. But as I’ve progressed thought the game, his grand speeches about sticking together, sticking with him, slowly but surely has turned from pep-talk to keep people’s spirit up to sounding like a cult leader desperate to keep his following no matter the cost. Yesterday when I was playing, I overheard him quote some quasi-philosophy book to Lenny and used the words to twist them into his own convictions to support his decisions. And when Lenny objected, Dutch literally said ‘you’re breaking my heart, kid’. Wow Dutch, talk about manipulating your protégé.

It was the mission when those lawmen approached Arthur as he was fishing with Jack that really made me consciously see Dutch in a new light. Up until then, RDR2 had mostly been fun and games but that conversation left me feeling a bit uneasy. But I just figured it was the main story finally picking up pace and also, I figured I was near the end of the chapter. I carried on, suddenly eager to see what would happen and was thoroughly surprised by how the chapter ended. In a bad way.

While both chapter 2 and chapter 3 begins with a ‘new start’ vibe, chapter 3 felt very different from chapter 2. Mostly it was that feeling that Dutch’s obsession with ‘sticking to this life’ is going to get people killed. Idk, it’s this eerie feeling something’s wrong but can’t quite put my finger on it-feel again. But thanks to internet being internet I already knew some spoilers so I couldn’t help but to look up something and… well, let me put it this way. I’m never going to finish this game. Ever. It breaks my heart because in so many ways it’s truly an amazing game and a fantastic experience. But I’m just not that into the story, I don’t like where it’s heading and I don’t want to see what’s coming to character(s) I’ve come to care deeply about.

I still want to explore the world more, see what unfolds, do more challenges, add stuff to my compendium, maybe get some trophies… but I doubt I’ll ever progress much story-wise. Quite the contrary, I might reload an earlier save and just stay in chapter 2 forever.

(wrtten a couple of days later)

Seems my instincts was right on the money, esp concerning Dutch. Sad thing, I do believe he is sincere. In the first few chapters at least. He is manipulative but I also believe he’s convinced himself that he’s doing the right thing. And then his obsession will eventually get the better of him and when people and the lifestyle is slipping away from him, he doesn’t handle it well at all. Ugh, it’s so frustrating, I just wanna gather all my favs and yell: “leave nooow, before it’s too late!

It’s not for the sake of spacing it out or making it last. I just don’t want to progress in the story at all. I hated losing Horseshoe Overlook. HATED IT HATED IT HATED IT!!!! Yes the new place is beautiful, yes I know it’s the life of the outlaws and RDR2 does show that life for better and for worse whereas most stories tend to romanticize the whole thing, yes as outlaws they can’t stay for too long in one place. But as mentioned I have a hard time sympathize with and immerse myself into that lifestyle. Yes, I got all my upgrades and a whole new area to explore, a bigger nearby town, and closer to that big city. Still hated it. Horseshoe Overlook was my place. The Heartlands was home. And the view was stunning! And I liked Valentine. It was small and dirty but I had good memories from there. Until I had to shoot up half the town. My motivation for continuing the main story is at absolute zero.

It was more what the transition represented, I guess. You never know what will happen in RDR2. And it’s true, for random encounters, and many of the individual missions. But when it comes to the story as a whole, I feel like I already now can predict how it’ll play out. Every chapter begins with the gang on the move, finding a place to settle down and have a fresh start, even chapter 1 (as they were on the run bc a heist gone wrong or something). Then they settle down, go into town to get to know the area and establish connections and looking for easy money, often at the expenses of others. X random events later, they get too overconfident or careless, screws up or get hunted down, it ends with a shootout, then they are on the run again, finds a new place to settle down where Dutch promises that THIS TIME IT WILL BE DIFFERENT until they’re wanted on the entire map and can’t go anywhere cos the wild west is ending. I really liked it at Horseshoe Overlook and whenever Im in that area again I’ll just get sad.

I had no idea I’d gotten so emotionally invested so I was really surprised at how much I disliked moving camps and all. I’ve also gotten so fond of Arthur. I was so busy with exploring, doing challenges, learning to hunt etc I didn’t even realize it happening. Until one scene had me almost tearing up! I think because, we as the player really have to look out for him. Even though I make sure that he eats regularly, he’s still underweight. When out riding I usually set up camp when night falls so that Arthur can get some rest. Something I’d never think about in any other game. And I always give him coffee in the morning. Then it’s his journal that gives such valuable insight into who he truly is as a person. There’s no doubt he’s so much more than just a mere outlaw. He writes surprisingly well and is open and is surprisingly honest about his thoughts and feelings. How torn he is between the life of an outlaw and wanting to be a better man, a better person. How he admired Charles because, for him it was ‘so easy to just be good’ whereas he himself always feel torn between good and evil. And his journal entries when he meets his long-lost love Mary and saves her brother from the cultists. The expression on his face as he said goodbye to her on the train station… how utterly heartbroken he was… how she still loved him too… man, that one tore at my heart. Still does when thinking about it.

I wish I could take Hosea, Charles, Sadie, Tilly, John’s family and maybe Lenny too with me, run off and start anew. Charles would have good influence on Arthur and encourage him to turn his life around and find his place in society and encourage John to be a better father and role model for Jack and they could all learn how to live as free men and women without robbing or hurting anyone (unless they deserve it). Like, Charles is an excellent hunter and tracker. He’d totally get enough food for the gang and maybe even enough to sell. He could train Jack too. Hosea was always more of a conman/grifter than a brute/robber. He could con bad guys or rich assholes Robin Hood style. If anyone gave him grief, John and Arthur would settle the score. Arthur could sell animal pelts and John could take up carpeting. They’d be such a happy lil family. But, RDR1 is yet to happen so it’s all just wishful thinking *sigh*